Qianhua Venerable's News

The snow, like a delicate velvet blanket, gently covered the antique eaves.

At dawn, golden sunlight quietly spilled down, illuminating this silver-clad world. The warm sun over Northern Ao Continent was like a gentle paintbrush, drawing a golden edge around everything in the snow.

In the courtyard, the young man wore a meticulously tailored black velvet robe. The robe appeared simple, but its fine velvet surface shimmered with a subtle sheen. However, pure black was taboo in the Northern Ao Continent, so the collar of the robe was adorned with a high white fur trim, like snow piled up in winter, creating a striking contrast with the black body of the robe. This outfit, however, complemented the young man's reserved and composed temperament, subtly revealing an air of aloof nobility.

The young man drew his sword, its blade flashing gracefully. His collar and felt hat obscured most of his face, but his extraordinary aura alone was enough to highlight his uniqueness.

But there are actually two such special men.

You Su's Black Eyes were as deep as ink as he focused intently on his opponent—a being who looked exactly like him, like a reflection in a mirror.

The two men's figures, movements, and even eyes were strikingly similar, as if they were the same person who had traveled through time. They both held long, dark swords, the tips of which gleamed coldly in the sunlight, and a silent yet fierce contest began.

As the battle began, a tense atmosphere filled the air. You Su and his "shadow" moved nimbly, their sword moves fierce. Each clash was accompanied by the sound of wind, as if even the air itself was being cut apart by the sharp Sword Qi.

They sometimes engaged in close combat, their swords flashing like a dense, impenetrable weave; at other times, they faced off at a distance, probing each other and searching for weaknesses. However, in terms of speed, strength, and strategy, the two were evenly matched, making it seem like an endless tug-of-war.

Strangely, despite the intense battle, with weapons clashing several times in a single breath, not a single harsh metallic clang was heard, as if... the two swords had never actually collided.

Just as they were locked in a stalemate, one of the You Su suddenly stopped, as if time had frozen. He neither dodged nor attacked, but simply stood there quietly, letting the other You Su's sword strike like lightning, aimed straight for his chest.

However, when the longsword pierced the "target's" chest, it did not bring the expected bloodshed and screams. Instead, a strange light flashed, and You Su, who had been "pierced," was completely unharmed. Meanwhile You Su, who was holding the sword, gradually dissipated in shock, turning into specks of starlight and eventually returning to nothingness.

The battle ended, and the courtyard returned to its tranquility, leaving only You Su standing alone. Watching the fading "shadow," a complex emotion flickered in her eyes:

"They were all taught by the same master, so I can't break their moves..."

He sighed softly, his tone tinged with helplessness, but mostly with excitement.

As he stood there, waiting for his other self to pierce through him, he couldn't suppress a flicker of fear. Even though he knew it was fake, that the sword couldn't harm him in the slightest, that other self felt too real, completely indistinguishable from the real thing. In that fleeting moment of disorientation, he hesitated for a second—what if it were real?

Then, after the initial shock came an even bigger surprise.

The black jellyfish didn't grant You Su the rare spatial ability, but the ability to transform into any form at will was still top-tier.

You Su considered himself a formidable opponent compared to all his past enemies. The combination of the Mandarin Sword and the Lotus Birth Sword Technique offered a wide variety of moves, allowing him to easily handle most situations. Unless there was an absolute difference in strength, You Su was almost never vulnerable to being defeated in a single blow. Now, with the addition of his illusion technique, the interplay of reality and illusion would wear down his opponent's resolve while constantly prolonging the fight to deplete their patience, before finally finding an opening and delivering a fatal blow.

You Su could already foresee that this move would become another powerful weapon for him to turn defeat into victory in the future.

However, illusions also have limitations. They can only conjure up the illusion itself, and the conjured self cannot make a sound or move in a realistic way. For example, when swinging a sword quickly, it produces a sharp, tearing sound, but the illusion does not truly exist in this world, and the swinging of the sword cannot even stir up a wisp of wind.

More importantly, illusions therefore cannot cause any effective damage, so in most cases, their only function is to confuse the opponent. To make this function as realistic as possible, You Su needs to artificially increase the sense of realism...

You Su became more and more excited as she thought about it. In short, there was still a lot of room for improvement in this ability, but its potential was also enormous.

"What should I name it...?"

You Su crossed his arms, thinking with great interest. Suddenly, a brilliant idea struck him, and he muttered to himself with delight:

"Let's just call it Shadow Flow Technique."

You Su had been practicing swordsmanship with his own clone all morning, and was now exhausted. He had to admit that the improvement he gained from practicing swordsmanship with himself far exceeded what he could achieve by practicing alone.

Having a thorough understanding of one's own sword techniques, one can manipulate illusions to counter them with ingenious moves, and then respond by countering each move. This process repeats endlessly, but it is not indefinite; eventually, there will be situations where even You Su cannot perfectly counter them. In this way, the flaws in one's past cultivation path are laid bare, making the process incredibly efficient.

Bai Ze lay on the bed, dozing lightly. His eyelids were slightly open. When he saw You Su return to the room, he seemed relieved. He subconsciously meowed and rubbed his head against the wall, then slept even more soundly.

You Su shook his head helplessly. Just as he was about to sit down, he suddenly seemed to sense something.

Under the warm sun, the Archimedes Venerable, dressed in a seven-colored Daoist robe, stood in the courtyard, waved to You Su, and said kindly:

Good morning.

Without waiting for You Su's reply, the Archimedes Venerable walked into the room on his own, while Bai Ze quickly slipped into bed, not daring to reveal his presence.

"Not bad, not bad." The Archimedes Venerable looked You Su up and down. "These clothes from the Qianhua Pavilion are really nice. It was worth spending a lot of money to buy them for you. You look about five-tenths as handsome as me in them."

These clothes were specially delivered to You Su by the Archimedes Venerable last night. The reason was simple: since You Su was to act as the Archimedes Venerable's disciple, wearing that primitive-looking animal robe would only arouse more suspicion than wearing fine clothes.

You Su agreed, so she had no choice but to change into it.

"Did you buy this from the Qianhua Pavilion?"

"You know about the Qianhua Pavilion?" The Archimedes Venerable sat down casually, poured himself a drink, and raised an eyebrow at You Su.

"I've heard a little about it." You Su didn't deny it outright; he knew very well that burying his head in the sand at this point would only make others more suspicious.

"Qianhua Pavilion isn't something everyone knows in the Northern Ao Continent. Like fine tea, fine clothes are only for the wealthy and powerful." Archimedes Venerable chuckled, fiddling with his teacup, and continued, "Qianhua Pavilion originated in the Central Yuan Continent, and was quite popular in the Central Yuan Continent and Western Wilderness Continent. Unfortunately, Southern Yang Continent Northern Ao Continent is freezing cold, and everyone wears padded coats and cotton-padded clothes, only caring about keeping warm; as for aesthetics, it doesn't matter at all. So everyone in the Northern Ao Continent wears black, white, and gray. Until forty years ago, Qianhua Venerable, the Pavilion Master Qianhua Pavilion, refused to believe this and, despite the ridicule of many, forcibly opened the first store in the Northern Ao Continent. And guess what happened after that?"

Even though that woman was as dangerous as a snake, and the relationship between You Su and her could hardly be described as warm, You Su was still moved when he heard that familiar name.

She had staked everything on herself, but now her 'master' was hated by everyone across the Five Continents. She probably wished she could sever all ties with her as soon as possible. She could only hope that the master would protect herself and not kick her while she was down. After all, You Su couldn't really guarantee that this relationship of kinship could bind a Venerable of the Void Glimpse Realm, let alone such a clever woman.

"Hey, I'm asking you a question." The Archimedes Venerable tapped the table, reminding You Su to come back to his senses.

You Su then realized what was happening, "Guess what?"

"I don't even need to do any calculations to know you're thinking about women," Archimedes Venerable said with a sly smile, stroking his chin. "Let me show you what Qianhua Venerable looks like."

"Not interested," You Su replied indifferently.

"Tsk tsk tsk, so young and already uninterested in beauties ranked among the top in the Five Continents? Are you perhaps a snow rabbit?" the Archimedes Venerable joked.

You Su twitched his lips. He had also heard some of the slang in the Northern Ao Continent. In the Northern Ao Continent dialect, "snow rabbit" meant homosexuality.

"You're dressed so flamboyantly, you wouldn't happen to be the one dressed up like that, would you?" You Su retorted sarcastically.

"Young hero, you have excellent eyesight!" The Archimedes Venerable agreed without the slightest hesitation.

You Su's expression immediately changed. Thinking of all the help the other party had given him, he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

Seeing his nervous demeanor, the Archimedes Venerable couldn't help but burst into hearty laughter. After laughing until he was tired, he teased him:

"I'm not teasing you anymore, I'm being serious. Don't fool yourself. That Qianhua Venerable is a renowned beauty across the Five Continents, rich and powerful. Countless men would love to hook up with such a smooth and tender thigh. If you saw her, I guarantee you'd be completely bewitched."

"Oh?" You Su raised an eyebrow, feigning nonchalance. "How stunningly beautiful?"

"Truly, she was breathtakingly beautiful, a beauty that could make fish sink and geese fall from the sky, a beauty that could shame the moon and flowers. Every smile and frown could melt the ice and snow of the Northern Ao Continent." Archimedes Venerable stroked his chin, a look of reminiscence on his face. "There are many beautiful female cultivators in the world, but to stand out, one must have their own unique characteristics. And this Qianhua Venerable is exceptionally unique. She has spent many years navigating the business world, dealing with shrewd and cunning merchants. This experience has endowed her with an indescribable shrewdness. Being in a position of power for so long has also cultivated in her a natural nobility. This kind of woman, so extremely assertive, truly possesses a unique charm."

"It's a bag with a stark contrast," You Su commented.

Upon hearing this, the Archimedes Venerable gave You Su a meaningful look. "Looks like you're quite knowledgeable, kid..."

"Just a guess." You Su casually sat down and started drinking tea.

"Anyone could guess, but unfortunately no one has been able to conquer such a woman yet." Archimedes Venerable sighed with emotion, but there was no admiration in his eyes. As for the renowned Qianhua Venerable, he only admired her appearance.

"You came to see me just to talk about a woman you can't get?" You Su retorted.

"What you're saying is so boring." The Archimedes Venerable frowned in disdain. "If you can't win her over, isn't it enough to just look? There are so many beautiful women in this world, do you have to possess them all? Young man, don't be so narrow-minded."

Upon hearing this, You Su frowned. "Look? How can you look? Isn't she in the Central Yuan Continent?"

How do you know she's in the Central Yuan Continent?

You Su was taken aback. "You were the one who just said that Qianhua Pavilion originated in the Central Yuan Continent."

The Archimedes Venerable smiled knowingly. "You're quite clever. I wasn't finished. When Qianhua Pavilion opened a branch in the Northern Ao Continent, I thought it was destined to fail, but thanks to the efforts of the Qianhua Venerable, it was revived and is now leading the aesthetic trends among the second-generation immortals and officials of the Northern Ao Continent. In a while, it will be the 40th anniversary celebration of the first Qianhua Pavilion in the Northern Ao Continent, Qianhua Venerable recently visited Fei City to prepare for the celebration."

"So... she's in the Northern Ao Continent?!" You Su unconsciously tightened his grip on the teacup.

"Yes, otherwise why would I have chatted with you for so long?" Archimedes Venerable blew on the steam rising from his warm teacup. "I came here to say that things in Shuo City are settled, and we can return to the Divine Mountain today. I only remembered this when we were talking about Qianhua Venerable. The road from Fei City to the Divine Mountain is not convenient, but it won't be too far. I thought if you were interested in that fairy's beauty, I would take you on a detour to see the spectacle. After all, although I'm not famous, I still have some standing in the Northern Ao Continent. It wouldn't be difficult to get a close look at this renowned Fairy at the celebration. However... you said you're not interested, so it seems you have urgent business to attend to. Then let's set off immediately for the Divine Mountain."

You Su remained silent for a while after hearing this, but suddenly asked, "How close?"

The Archimedes Venerable was taken aback at first, then laughed and cried at the same time, "How close do you want to get? You just said you weren't interested, and now you want to get into her arms? I advise you to give up on that idea. Qianhua Venerable doesn't have a good reputation behind the scenes. Many men have ended up with him paralyzed on one side."

You Su knew that this was not the case. Although Qianhua Venerable appeared to be dissolute, she was actually a virgin. She also had an extreme aversion to men. Even if she was playing with men, she was actually playing with female slaves. Those men were just people she disliked or who had angered her, and she was just finding a reason to punish them.

"How will you know if you don't try? Even if it doesn't work, it's not a loss to take a look."

"That's exactly right." The Archimedes Venerable clapped his hands. "Young people shouldn't suppress their desires. If you don't look at beautiful women at your age, are you going to look at them when you're my age?"

You Su raised an eyebrow, "What exactly is your purpose in coaxing me to go to that celebration?"

The Archimedes Venerable chuckled, "I knew I couldn't hide it from you, kid. I'll take you closer to see that rare beauty; that'll be a huge help. In return, you should do me a small favor."

"What kind of help?"

"Let that Qianhua Venerable... shed a little water!"